Football: Area teams ready to tune up for season

Monday

Jul 31, 2017 at 2:05 PMJul 31, 2017 at 3:50 PM

JARROD ULREY THISWEEKSPORTS.COM @UlreyThisWeeK

With several new assistant coaches on the Grandview Heights High School football staff, the scrimmages the team will participate in over the next two weeks could prove to be as important as any during coach Jason Peters' tenure.

Peters, who enters his 11th season with the goal of getting the Bobcats back to the playoffs after they went 6-4 and finished 12th in Division VI, Region 23 last season, plans to have his team practice as many in-game situations as possible during its scrimmages.

That also means Grandview isn't going to hold anything back.

"I don't buy into saving stuff for the first game," Peters said. "We're going to work on the stuff we can do in the scrimmages to see if we can do it or not. We're going to work on things and try to get better. You get some coaches that say, 'I don't show what we have,' but if you only do two things, (teams that view tapes from the scrimmages) are going to get pretty good at stopping those two things.

"In our first scrimmage, we're going to put coaches in the press box. I lost four coaches this year and we need to figure some things out."

There are a slew of scrimmages scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 8, between central Ohio teams, including Grandview's matchup at home against Worthington Christian. The Bobcats' other scrimmages will be held Aug. 11 at home against Briggs and Aug. 17 at North Robinson Colonel Crawford.

Other matchups scheduled for Aug. 8 include a four-team scrimmage at Dublin Coffman that also features Pickerington Central, St. Charles and perennial-power Toledo Central Catholic, a three-team scrimmage at Dublin Jerome that also includes Hilliard Davidson and Kettering Fairmont and Olentangy Orange at home against Pickerington North in a matchup of 2016 playoff teams.

New Hamilton Township coach Mike Savino takes a philosophical view regarding what he'll look for from his team during scrimmages.

The Rangers, who have made three consecutive Division III playoff appearances, visit Orange on Aug. 12 for a scrimmage that also will include Grove City and play host to Licking Valley on Aug. 18.

"We're asking the guys to get out fast, and once the ball carrier is down we're asking the ball carrier to get back up quickly and show that kind of toughness," Savino said. "We want them to get back and hustle into the next play. We're watching their body language to see whether they're hustling. We're going to be running through our schemes, but it's those smaller details that we're looking at. We're trying to drive home the point that the results will take care of themselves."

Another matchup Aug. 8 will pit a pair of veteran coaches when Dublin Scioto plays host to Westerville North. The Irish are coached by Karl Johnson, who is entering his 18th season, and the Warriors are led by former Buckeye Valley and Big Walnut coach Scott Wetzel, who is entering his second season.

North had gone winless in five of the previous seven seasons before finishing 3-7 a year ago.

Now used to what he expects, Wetzel is looking forward to seeing how his players respond during the team's scrimmages, which also include matchups Aug. 12 at Whetstone and Aug. 18 at Whitehall.

"The kids know a little more of where we're coming from (this year)," Wetzel said. "We've got three scrimmages this year after having two last year. We always try to go with three even if that first one is just a small set number of plays to get something on film. It lets them see themselves against an opponent. You add a few more game scenarios in each one. The first two really are about evaluating personnel. By the third scrimmage, we hope we've made a lot of the decisions and we'll try to play with who we think our starters are for a half."

Nearly every team in central Ohio has a final scrimmage Aug. 17 or 18 that most view as a dress rehearsal for the following week's regular-season opener. Teams open Aug. 24 or 25.

julrey@thisweeknews.com

@UlreyThisWeek

At a glance

Below is a list of scrimmages involving high school football teams throughout the ThisWeek coverage area (info subject to change; home team listed first):

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